Love Before the Crown
by PrincessRockstar1
Summary: AU, Beast Boy and Raven. Raven is royalty, and as she is forced away from her ambushed home, bombed and in flames, the image of her beloved farm boy is burned into her mind forever as he is forced to stay behind. 7 months later, she realizes something.


_Okay, I know this never really says anything relating exactly to Beast Boy and Raven, but I was thinking about them as characters when I wrote it. It's from Raven's point of view and...well...I'll let you read and figure the rest out. :) Happy Reading. R/R._

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They were pulling me backwards, grasping onto any part of me that they could. My shirt, my collar, my sleeves, arms, waist, wrists, hands. Someone even tried grabbing my legs and feet until I kicked them. They didn't try that again.

No matter how hard I tried, they wouldn't stop pulling. I fought with all my might, but there was one of a me, and too many of them. I was fighting a losing battle.

But, the worst part of it all was that they were pulling me from what I wanted most. They were pulling me from my life; everything I lived for. They were taking me away from him, and him away from me. We were being pulled away from each other. I didn't like it, and it was obvious he didn't either from the words he shouted at them.

He looked up at me. I didn't hear the quiet words he spoke over the commotion. But I could read his lips as he told me not to cry. I nodded in response, suddenly gaining hope that I'd find him sooner than it seemed.

A nearby explosion caused someone to push my head to the ground, shielding my face from flying glass and debris. The fire was out of control, which caused people to rush me faster away. He tried following, but they held him back. I was the royal prized possession. It was everyones job to keep me out of harms way. He wasn't royalty or one of the designated many to take me to safety, which only meant he was forced to stay and help, even if it risked his life.

I was soon far enough away that I could no longer see his face or hear his shouting words. But as I was pushed to my escape, another explosion sounded, this one worse than the first. I turned to see fire and smoke flying into the sky in a big puff. It looked like something from the movies.

No one had to say a word. I wouldn't have heard it if anyone had. Fresh tears burned and soaked my face.

"Princess," someone gingerly said nearby, "we must leave. We cannot go back. Not now." I didn't say anything. Instead, they now gently lead me away.

I never looked back at the burning castle. He was gone, I was sure.

But his face never left my mind, nor did his smile, laugh, and everything else about him and the moments and memories we shared that I would never forget.

**7 months later...**

I walked about the large castle that I now called home. I'd been here for months, but it still felt new and unknown. It would never be home like my last palace. And people didn't understand. They said castles and palaces should just be buildings to me, right? Well, they were wrong. And I told them, too. The castle I saw blow up into flames as it was bombed was my home. I grew up there, I was raised there. It was there that I became who I am today.

The day the castle was bombed and invaded was a day I would never forget. My parents were away, luckily, but I had lost everything that day. My home, and my best friend. He happened to also be someone I truly loved.

I walked out the grand front doors and wandered out into the yard. Aimlessly, I found my way to the stables where all my horses were. Somehow they had managed to escape unharmed. I fed each one a small treat, and was nuzzling one when I heard the royal trumpets that announced we had an unknown, unannounced visitor.

I walked out of the stable, not knowing what to expect. I made my way towards the gate, but was suddenly grabbed firmly by my wrist.

"Princess," the voice behind me spoke, "you must not go. It is too dangerous."

"Don't worry, brother." I turned to face him. "I just want to greet our visitor. Besides, for once, can't you treat me like your sister, not your princess?"

He hesitated before speaking. "If I treated you like my sister, I'd only have more of a reason to protect you," he said with a smile. I gave him a pleading look, but soon saw his face turn towards the gate, a look of slight wonder and shock taking over. He looked down at me, smiled slightly, and released my arm. "I'll allow this one, sister."

I looked at him, confused as to what was going on. But as I turned to face the gate, I saw our visitor approach on a racing white stallion. As I neared the gate, my face fell with shock, but quickly rose with excitement.

He had lived. He had survived the ambush and bombing. He had come back. For me. He was back for me!

The gates opened and he jumped from his horse before even stopping. We both broke into runs towards each other. He grabbed me in a tight hug, lifted me off my toes, and spun me in circles. I locked my arms around his neck, never wanting to let go. I knew I was crying, and I knew princesses should never cry in public, but I didn't care.

I could tell people were coming from the palace, but I didn't care. They weren't stopping us, and it shocked me. Then I realized they finally fully knew what this foolish boy meant to me. He was my everything, and I would never let him go again, no matter what.

I loved this boy, this silly, messy-haired farm boy, and I would shout it from the rooftops to the world any given day. At that moment in time, my title as a princess didn't matter. The crown didn't matter, nor did the money and jewls and anything else. Nothing matter except this boy. This boy that I loved.


End file.
